When the Oscars Came to New York

Yesterday, Elizabeth Minkel wrote about New Yorker writers who attended the Oscars in Los Angeles, but there was also a time, half a century ago, when the Oscars came to New York. For several years in the mid-nineteen-fifties, the Academy Awards were split between two venues: the R.K.O. Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and the Center Theatre (formerly the R.K.O. Roxy), in New York’s Rockefeller Center. The split venue accommodated the many nominees who lived in New York or were appearing on Broadway. New York was also the home of NBC, which first aired the awards in 1953.

Though Lena Horne, Steve Allen, and Jack Palance were present, a man in the crowd complained that the celebrities at the New York event weren’t big enough to warrant all the fuss. “I’ve seen the real job at the Pantages, in Hollywood. Bleachers outside the theatre, people arriving at noon with lunchboxes, cars lined up for miles. Glorious, glorious spectacle!”

The announced arrival of Audrey Hepburn and Deborah Kerr, two of that year’s nominees for Best Actress, created something of a spectacle at the Center. “Photographers, like animal pack, rushed to the front door,” Hamburger wrote. Hepburn, still in costume from her role in the Broadway production of “Ondine,” was ushered to a dressing room to change. Shortly thereafter, she received the Oscar for her performance in “Roman Holiday.” Hamburger was, quite literally, carried away by the ensuing excitement:

Animal pack rushed from auditorium. Caught in rush and found myself on stairs leading to downstairs lounge. Desperately wanted to congratulate Hepburn. Felt it least I could do. Would justify whole evening, cumberbund, etc. Elbowed out of way by photographer. Hepburn, visibly shaken, posed again. “Audrey, where’s the Oscar?” photographer asked. Hepburn startled. “I’ve lost it,” she said.

Illustration by Jordan Awan.

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